Warning for those with Bay Stars on the shortened chassis

[gremlin]

We've talked about this over on the ford forum, and in a thread on this forum on shaking down a new bay star but there have been a few instances of this issue, so I figured it was worth starting another thread.

These chassis (the 2903, 27xx and the 30xx) are shortened for Newmar by a third party (the shortening is obvious in this photo) and they loop the wiring harnesses underneath and tie them up. In some rigs they have not been tied appropriately and the harness has fallen down onto the exhaust manifold, burning through the wires and causing failures, in some cases it's just been rear lights, in others the fuel pumps or abs failures have been noted.

Here's a shot of the loop and you can see the chassis shortening in it so you know what to look for. Note in the shot you can see the white plastic "screws" which were meant to hold it in place that are not holding it in place.

It's worth crawling under your rig and just double checking all of these are bundled up.

[avid_dk]

gremlin,

Approximately where on the motorhome is the shortening located? Thanks!

[gremlin]

Roughly in the middle of the rig, between the wheels. If you look at the picture above it's clear that it's been cut and the diamond shaped plate welded back to hole it together, and the plate across the bottom as well.

[avid_dk]

Thanks that will save some time crawling around underneath. I will check it out this weekend.

[jrbarber]

The pic above is from my Bay Star 3124. The splice is about a foot forward of the muffler.

The wire melting happened during the ferry trip from factory to dealer in CO. The only indication I had of a problem was an ABS light immediately after initial delivery. Dealer told me ABS was a Ford problem. Took two weeks to get it into a Ford Truck center where it took them about five minutes to spot the melted wires and send me back to the Newmar dealer to repair it.

[BPoland]

Was this shortening done like this on 2014s or only on the larger 22.5K chassis?

[purrin along]

Originally Posted by BPoland

Was this shortening done like this on 2014s or only on the larger 22.5K chassis?

This is a good question from me also.

[edgray]

Originally Posted by gremlin

We've talked about this over on the ford forum, and in a thread on this forum on shaking down a new bay star but there have been a few instances of this issue, so I figured it was worth starting another thread.

These chassis (the 2903, 27xx and the 30xx) are shortened for Newmar by a third party (the shortening is obvious in this photo) and they loop the wiring harnesses underneath and tie them up. In some rigs they have not been tied appropriately and the harness has fallen down onto the exhaust manifold, burning through the wires and causing failures, in some cases it's just been rear lights, in others the fuel pumps or abs failures have been noted.

Here's a shot of the loop and you can see the chassis shortening in it so you know what to look for. Note in the shot you can see the white plastic "screws" which were meant to hold it in place that are not holding it in place.

It's worth crawling under your rig and just double checking all of these are bundled up.

I know Newmar and a few other coach builders buy the standard wheel bases the chassis builders offer, and cut them to either shorten or stretch to fit a specific wheel base required by the house designs. Mostly I've seen chassis that were stretched, like mine. What wheel base dimension are these F53 chassis after they were cut?
Thanks,

[Steady_Rest]

Originally Posted by edgray

I know Newmar and a few other coach builders buy the standard wheel bases the chassis builders offer, and cut them to either shorten or stretch to fit a specific wheel base required by the house designs. Mostly I've seen chassis that were stretched, like mine. What wheel base dimension are these F53 chassis after they were cut?
Thanks,

Looks like the entire Bay Star line has modified 22k chassis.

2015 22k chassis
Bay Star 2903 cut to 190" from 208"
Bay Star 3103, 3124 & 3215 cut to 200" from a 208"
Bay Star 3308 & 3401 cut to 216" from a 228"
Bay star 3402 cut to 220" from 228"



2015 Bay Star Sport modified models 18k chassis
2702, 2707 - 172" cut from a 178"

2015 Bay Star Sport 20k chassis
2903, 3022 - 190" cut from a 208"
3220 - 200" cut from a 208"

3306 and 3309 have stock length 208" chassis.

The entire lineup of Bay Star and Sport models except the above two Sports look to be modified. So it would seem there will be a lot of crawling under Bay Stars for preventive maintenance.
Perhaps they drilled the holes for the push clips too large.

Kevin

[edgray]

THANKS, Kevin. That was a lot of research, I didn't know there were that many models affected.

[zrobotman]

My 2015 2903 has the shortened frame rails

[nothermark]

FWIW The white push pins are probably supplied laced into the cable assembly by Ford. The frame modifier pulls them to get access to cut the rails but does not put new holes in the frame for them. They would solve the problem if they tacked on a small plate with a hole for the bottom plug then tie wrapped the bundle together. I do not see any really good secure point in that Z fold to keep the harness up there.

[edgray]

Originally Posted by zrobotman

My 2015 2903 has the shortened frame rails

Modifying the OE chassis wheelbase involves a lot more than just the frame rails. Different drive shafts are also required, as an example.

[nothermark]

Originally Posted by edgray

Modifying the OE chassis wheelbase involves a lot more than just the frame rails. Different drive shafts are also required, as an example.

I think he still has a point. Looking at Baystar vs the competition I think part of the extra cost is the heavier duty chassis and relatively longer wheelbase. Assuming they do that for most of their chassis I'd bet they have the process all worked out probably with fixtures for doing it.